H. S. SMITH, farmer, Sec. 25; P.O. Brooklyn; was born in 1806 in Orange Co., Vt.; his early life was spent in Onondaga, Monroe and Yates Cos., N.Y.; he married in the former county Miss Irena Wright, of Bennington, Vt.; she died Oct. 3, 1842, leaving two daughters, Elfie and Louisa; the second marriage, with Miss Phoebe Walford, was in her native county (Yates); two years later, he came West and bought 80 acres of his present farm; in the fall of 1847, he brought out his wife and four children, up the lakes to Milwaukee, thence with oxen team to Oregon; of the 80, only 7 were improved, and on this was a double-log house; “double” says Mrs. S., “because the Welshman who first lived in it shared it with his pigs,” it was roofed with shakes, and she spent many homesick hours in those cramped quarters; during one fortnight, she saw none but her own family.Mr. S. began poor and worked hard; the result is a splendid 320-acre farm, with good buildings; his frame house was one of the first built in Oregon.Mr. and Mrs. S. have five children-Elizabeth (Mrs. And. Bennett), Henry S., Thurlow T., Edward B., and J. F; Louisa died in October 1862 (wife of Hy. Parker); Elfie is Mrs. L. Nourse, of Iowa; the three youngest are Badger born; of the others, Elizabeth was born in Yates Co., N.Y., and Henry in Ontario, Co.Mr. Smith is an old-time Yankee Whig and Republican; was chairman of Oregon two or three years, also Justice of the Peace, which office is now held by his eldest son. Mr. and Mrs. S. are members of the Rutland U. B. Church.
Ref. 1880 History of Dane County, Wisconsin, p. 1250. |